Police identify gunman in triple shooting at southwest Miami-Dade plant nursery

Luis Castillo shot 3 men in head, killing 2, police say

MIAMI – The victims in a shooting at a southwest Miami-Dade County plant nursery were shot in the head, according to an arrest affidavit obtained Friday by Local 10 News.

Luis Castillo, 49, faces multiple charges, including two counts of second-degree murder with a deadly weapon and one count of second-degree attempted murder.

He refused to appear in court Friday.

According to the police report, Castillo approached the three victims at the nursery near Southwest 200th Street and Southwest 200th Avenue shortly before 4 p.m. Thursday and shot them in the head.

Two men, Wilfredo Siam, 35, and a 30-year-old man were pronounced dead at the scene. Another man, Juan Cruz, 36, was taken to Jackson South Community Hospital, where he was undergoing surgery.

A witness provided police with a description of the shooter and a description of the shooter's vehicle. 

Police were able to spot the vehicle matching the description nearby and saw a man get out of the vehicle and run. 

Sky 10 was overhead when a man in a gray sweatshirt was trying to evade police before finally holding up his hands and surrendering.

That surrender took place after a relative of the shooter handed police a cellphone at the scene, police said. The shooter was on the other end of the phone and told police he wanted to surrender. 

"That officer immediately made contact with him, established communication with the subject, and gave him specific instructions on what to do because he was saying that he did not want to get shot by the officers," Detective Alvaro Zabaleta said. 

A motive for the shootings wasn't immediately known.


About the Author:

Peter Burke returned for a second stint of duty at Local 10 News in February 2014.